smallspy

Please let us know how it goes when you give it a try next. Dan

Until this change, there weren't even "many others" riding the 8. So you've used it a handful of times over the decades. Cool, got it. I didn't say that it didn't make sense the way you wanted it - I said it makes more sense this way than what they had originally suggested. You have a specific use case that would make it better. But your case isn't representative of the rest of the ridership, nor of what the actual ridership levels are like out there. You think way too highly of yourself if you think I really give a shit. Dan

Why? Do you live in the area and use either route? As someone who used to and used to use them a lot, the way that they have made the change makes way more sense to me. The ridership levels on the two branches was never particularly even, and the joint frequency on O'Connor and Coxwell was far higher than it needed to be considering the ridership on that stretch. Running the 8 down Coxwell would have been an even bigger waste of resources. Dan

Eglinton's CLC presentations happen every 2 months, and in 4 separate sections along the line. They get published on the website shortly after they occur. Dan

The ATC/ATO and OPTO systems are two completely independent systems that don't interact with each other. It is not clear to me that the ATO system onboard the trains does require that only the front cab is used. It does require that a cab be active for its use, but it seems to be direction agnostic. The OPTO system, on the other hand, only works in the front cab of each train. As for the T1s, there is a lot of train-side equipment required for the OPTO system. There simply wasn't enough room to mount it all without major modifications to each piece of rolling stock, which would have greatly increased the cost. Dan

Nitpick: It was not the installation of ATC/ATO equipment that precluded the T1s from operating on Sheppard, it was the installation of the OPTO equipment that did it in for them. The ATC/ATO system does allow for non-equipped trains to operate it, but it requires the stepping down to a degraded mode of operation. Dan

You realize that it is way more complicated than just pointing at a route and saying "this division is closest", right? Dan

There are two platform tracks, and two servicing tracks within the station. Thus, they can store 4 trainsets in the station each night. Dn

https://stevemunro.ca/2023/10/27/streetcars-return-to-humber-loop/

What makes you think that they would have worked in Toronto? These are much newer units, and are built quite a bit differently from an electrical and control standpoint. Dan

It seems that while at least this part of the plan is still as you saw it all those years ago, the MMC portion is not. You may recall that VIA released a press release back in November of last year stating that they'd signed two contracts for the rebuilding of each of TMC and MMC. While there was a big presser in Toronto back in July about that work getting underway, the work in Montreal had only started a couple of months previous. Dan

It's not often I get to correct you, but.... This is unequivocally false. The facilities at TMC are not the problem. The units can and have been serviced at TMC already. And they are serviced at MMC, which has not had its set of upgrades - the same as being done in Toronto - done as yet, either. No, the issue is training. At this point, only a very limited group of crews are trained on them in Toronto. This is why the first trainset is running from Ottawa to Toronto and back the same day - it is being run with one crew. For the record, the issue with the TMC (and MMC) is that they are not configured to do overhead work on long consists of trains, as none of the equipment that VIA has had delivered has been configured like that. Until the new facilities are built and operating, the Siemens trains will have to be taken apart and the affected piece of rolling stock moved into one of the overhead bays if any major work needs to be done, and the equipment placed in the existing spaces where overhead access is available. That said, I do completely agree with you that 71-76 and 73-78 make the most sense for the first trains converted to Siemens equipment. This will help the timekeeping on those trains immensely. Dan

For anyone looking to ride one of the new Siemens trainsets, VIA has published a schedule on their website for the foreseeable future. 4 trainsets are in service daily. https://www.viarail.ca/en/plan/new-fleet Dan

I can't speak to the question of putting trains together, but this may help explain the reverse process. https://transittoronto.ca/subway/5124.shtml Dan

The TTC has internal methods of tracking individual subway cars and their locations, but they do not make those methods available to the public. So no, there are none. Dan